Sewing machine



Jan. 9, 19 45.

A. M. SHELDON SEWING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Shetl Filed Nov. 10, 1941 Jan. 9, 1945. A. M. SHELDON 57, 5

SEWING MACHINE Fil ed Nov. 10,. 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Anew/90ml! 514a oo/v I AITTQRNX I of straight and regular seams.

Patented Jan. 9, 1945 v A I UNITED STATES PATENT I OFFICE I I I 2,367,145, I I I v sEWING MACHINE I Archibald M. Sheldon, St. Charles, 111., assignor II to Union Special Machine Company, Chicago, I

Ill., acorporation of Illinois I r Y I Application November 10, 1941,IS erialNo. 418,489

" IOlaim's. (01. 112 214) This invention relates .to andmproved sewing machine construction and moreparticularly to one adapted to handle large pieces of work, such as awnings, tents, tarpaulins and the like.

It is difiicult in forming long seams in'large and heavy work pieces to feed thelatteruniformlyand in such a way as toinsure the formation An object of the present invention has been to provide auxiliary feeding devices, in addition to the regular. feed dog and 'presser foot of a: sewing machine,"for insuring the uniform advance of all portions of the work in a region adjacent thestitchforming devices so as to eliminate, as far as possible, a drag upon the material at the pointwhere it is being stitched. TowardIIthis end the invention contemplates the provision of auxiliary feeding means. or puller devices not only in line with the regular feed dog but also at some distance to the side thereof. It is especially important to provide such auxiliary means atthe left of the needles, when facing the machine. in the direction of feed.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a common drive for separate auxiliary feed devices, certain of which are adjacentto'andin line with, while others are, removed from and a one side of, the regular feed means. 1 AnotherIfeature-is the provision of readilyconnectibl units or attachments for sewing machines of the character mentioned serving to supply the auxiliary feed means located at soine distance'to the side of the regular feed. dog. These units have frame members which .may very simplybe attached to the regular frame, of

the machine while the'driving connection for the feeding devices embodied therein may be coupled with equal facility.

Still another-feature of the invention is the.

provision of'means tor independently disabling either "or both of the separate auxiliary feed means.

A'general object of the inventionhas been to I tionofan illustrativejform of thesame which:

willnow be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: i

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the invention, the machine being shown as partly broken away intermediate its ends.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the operating means embodied in the machine beneath the work supline 44 in Fig. 3, of a unit forming the'upper portion of one of the auxiliary feeding devices.

Turning now to the drawings,the machine to which the present improvement is shown applied is of the type more fully disclosed in the Christensen Patent No. 1,999,893, granted April 30,

1935. For details of the operating connections for driving the stitch forming devices and the regular work feeding device, as well as an auxiliary work feeding device or puller aligned with the regular feed dog, reference may be had to the disclosure of said patent.

As shown, the improved machine preferably comprises a main frame structure, including a base portion Ill and an upper overhanging arm member I I which is secured tothe base portion by means of bolts l2, or the like. The base portion has a work-supporting surface illa over which the arm Ii extends. Power is supplied to the machine by means of a pulley I3, suitable gearing being provided, as disclosed in the abovementioned Christensen patent, for driving a shaftv (not shown) which extends longitudinally of the overhanging arm I I. Connections are also provided in the base portion fromthe pulley l3 toa shaft 4. Any suitable means may be provided in the upper arm for driving a needle bar and connections are provided in the base portion from the shaft M, for driving complementary stitch-forming devices and work-feeding devices. I

It will be understood that the machine contemplated by the present invention is of large construction and is adapted for handling large pieces of work. In a typical embodiment, the arm H may have an overhang of some six feet. At the end of the arm I I a needle head i 5 is provided, this having mounted in it, for vertical reciprocation, a needle bar I6 anda presser bar I], the latter carrying a presser foot i8. The

needle bar may be operated by connections similiar. to those shown in the above-mentioned Christensen patent. Presser bar I! is urged downwardly by a spring (not shown) whose tension may be varied by a screwethreaded adjusting sleeve Ha. Suitable means may be provided as disclosed in said Christensen patent, for lifting the presser bar against the action of its spring, whenever desired, to facilitate the introduction of work.

In rear of the presser foot I8, and in direct line with the same, there is mounted on the needle head a relatively broad roller 19, which is simply a idler and forms a part of a puller 'mechanism acting upon the work along the line of stitching. This roller is mounted in a'yoke carried by a presser bar (not shown) which is slidably mounted on the needle head and is spring-urged downwardly to press the roller l9 against the work. A lever 2! may be provided for lifting the presser bar which carries the roller l9, to facilitate the introductio of work or to disable the roller feed whenever desired. This lever may operate in the manner disclosed in said prior Christensen patent,

Secured to the needle head, and projecting a substantially distance therefrom, is an extension frame 22, this being fastened to the needle head by a series of screws 23. At the forward end of the extension frame there is a pair of bearing lugs 24 and 25 through which a vertically disposed rod or presser bar 26v is adapted to slide. The lower end of this presser bar is provided with a yoke 21, secured to the bar by a screw 28 and retaining between its arms an idler roll 29. Secured to the presser bar 26, above the lug 25, is a block or arm 36 whose outer end is forked to straddle and slide along the flat sides of a guide pin 3| fixedly mounted in the bearing lug 25. This serves to prevent turning of the presser bar while permitting longitudinal movement. A spring 32 surrounding the presser bar 26 and acting between the top of the arm 30 and the bottom of a sleeve 33,. which has screw-threaded engagement with the lug 24, serves to urge the presser bar, and hence the roller 29, downwardly under a pressure determined by the adjustment of the sleeve 33. Whenever desired, the roller 29 may be lifted against the action of the spring 32 by means of a cam plate 34 rockably mounted on a stud 35. The periphery of this cam plate cooperates with the shank of a screw 36 carried by the arm 36. A lever arm 31, formed as an integral extension of the cam plate and bent outwardly and upwardly, is provided with a small handle at its upper end to facilitate the operation of the cam plate. It will be apparent that as the lever arm 31 is rocked clockwise (Fig. 3), the bar 26 and roller 29 will be lifted and may be held in raised position against the action of the spring 32.

Turning now to the base portion of the machine, the shaft [4 is connected by a coupling 38 with a shaft 39 mounted in suitable bearings onthe frame and extending substantially to the outer end of the main base portion. At its outer end the shaft 39 is provided with a crank pin connected by a link 40 with an arm 4| secured to a rock shaft 42. A pair of upstanding arms 43, secured to the rock shaft, serves to pivotally carry a feed bar 44, having at its forward end a feed dog 45. The latter is raised and lowered through a suitable opening in the work support by an eccentric (not shown), such as disclosed in the above-mentioned Christensen patent. Reciprocation of the feed dog for feeding the work is produced by the crank at the end of the shaft 39.

Loopers 46 are mounted on a carrier which is oscillatable on a support 41 to provide an appropriate needle-avoid movement. An eccentric on the shaft 39, acting upon a strap 48,

' suitably connected with the support 41, serves to impart this oscillating movement. The movement of the. loopers to carry the ends of the latter through the needle loops is effected by means of a link 49 connected with an arm 50 extending upwardly from a sleeve 5| which is rocked by an eccentric on the shaft 39 cooperating with a strap 52. For further details regarding the construction and operation of the loopers, reference may be had to the above-mentioned Christensen patent. So also, reference may be had to said patent for further disclosure of other details of the thread-handling and stitch-forming devices, including a thread controller 53 and a knob 54 for manually operating the shaft 39 whenever desired.

An eccentric 55 on the shaft 39 cooperating with a strap 56 and a connecting rod 5'! serves to rock a frame 58 about a supporting rod 59 mounted on the machine frame. The opposite end of the frame 58 is connected by a link 60 with an arm 6| attached to the driving member of a one-way clutch unit 62. This may be of any-suitable and well-known construction and preferably involves a pair of ball or roller clutches through which the driven member is operated upon each movement of the arm 6| in one direction and is held against movement as the arm BI is rocked in the opposite direction. A shaft 63, which is thus driven step by step upon the oscillation of the arm BI, is connected by a universal coupling 64 to a short extension shaft 65, and a. second universal coupling 66 with a shaft 61 mounted in bearings 68 and 69 carried by the frame. Secured tothe shaft 61 is a feed roller 70' which extends through an opening in the work support Ma and cooperates with the idler roller l9. This is all substantially as disclosed in said prior Christensen patent.

An auxiliary extension frame H is provided beneath the frame 22. This is secured to the frame of the base portion In b means of screws or bolts 12 and serves to provide an elongation of the base. In order to render the attachment of the auxiliary frame more rigid, it is provided with an L-shaped formation at the end cooperating with the frame of the base portion so that the bolts 12 enter both the side and end of the base, as shown. A pair of upright supports 13 is provided on the auxiliary frame and these serve to carry at their upper ends an extension 14 of the work support which is secured bya series of screws 15. Bearings are provided in the supports 13 for a shaft 16 which carries a roller 11 extending through an opening in the work support extension 14. Roller 11, which is driven, cooperates with the idler roller 29 to assist in feeding the work across the work support. Driving of the roller TI is accomplished through a flexible coupling '18, an extension shaft 19 and a second flexible coupling which connects the extension shaft with the shaft 61. Thus, the two rollers. 10 and 11 are driven in unison and to the same extents. A collar Bl secured to the shaft 16 adjacent one of the supports 13 serves to retain the shaft against endwise movement in one direction while a collar on one member of the coupling 18 serves to retain the parts against endwise movement in the opposite direction.

It will be seen from the foregoing that a large piece of work being stitched on the improved machine will be fed across the work support not only by the regular feed dog 45, cooperating with the presser foot 18, and by a puller comprising the driven roller and the idler roller l9, but also by an extension uller comprising the driven roller 11 and the idler 29. This extension puller is disposed at a point considerably removed from, and at the left side of, the line of stitching. It serves to assist in keeping the work properly alined and eliminates an excessive drag and twisting action upon the material at the point of stitching. Either set of puller rollers may be disabled at will by lifting and retaining in raised position the corresponding idler roller H) or 29. Both of these rollers may be raised also whenever it is desired to introduce a new While an illustrative form of the invention hasbeen disclosed in considerable detail, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the. various parts without departing from the general principles and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a sewing machinea base having a work support, an arm connected with and overhanging said work support, cooperating stitch forming means carried by said base and arm, means including a puller adjacent said stitch forming means for feeding the work on said support, de-

tachable extension members for said arm and base extending longitudinally beyond the ends thereof, and a second puller means mounted on said extension members for feeding the work at a point removed a substantial distance to the side of the line of stitching, said second puller means being driven by connections from said first named puller for synchronous rotation therewith;

2. A puller attachment for sewing machines having a base with a work sup-port and an intermittently rotatable shaft, and an overhanging arm connected with said base adjacent one end thereof, which comp-rises a member adapted to be secured to said base atits opposite end and carrying a longitudi a1 extension of said Work support, a feed roller carried by said member,

' means arranged to connect said feed roller with said shaft, a member adapted to be secured to said arm and forming an extension thereof overlying said extension of saidwork support, and means carried by said last mentioned member for retaining the work against said feed roller.

3. Extension means for a sewing machine'having a base with a work support and a driven feed roller extending through said support and an arm connected with said base adjacent one end thereof and overhanging said support, which comprises members adapted to be readily and detachably secured respectively to said base and arm at their ends remote from the point of connection thereof to form longitudinal eXten-. sions thereof, cooperating work feeding means carried by said members, said means including a feed roller in the member secured to said base, and means 'adapted to connect said feed roller with said driven feed roller in said base for synchronous rotation therewith.

4. Extension means for a sewing machine having a base with a work support and an arm connected with said base adjacent one end thereof and overhanging said support, the base havintermittently rotatable shaft.

5. Extension meansfo-r a sewing machine having a base with a work support and an arm connected with said base adjacent one end thereof and overhanging said support, the base having an intermittently rotatable shaft, which comprises members adapted to be readily'detachably secured respectively to said base' and arm at their ends remote from the point of connection thereof to form longitudinal extensions thereof,

cooperating work feeding means carried by said members adapted to grip and feed the work, said work feeding means in said member secured to said base having means for detachable connection with said intermittently rotatable shaft, and means on one of said members for shifting the related feeding means and thereby disabling said cooperating feeding means at will.

ARCHIBALD M. SHELDON. 

